THERE is a large Irish contingent at the Andalucia Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain at the moment and many of them have had top 10 finishes during week four of competition. The most notable were Coen Williams’ win in Friday’s 1.40m class with J.Diago and Jonathan Smyth’s runner-up position with Mulvin Lights Out in the 1.40m Small Grand Prix on Saturday, where they narrowly missed the top spot.

Williams and J.Diago were the best of 45 starters, jumping clear over the 1.40m track in 57.54 seconds, more than a second faster than British rider, Tabitha Kyle on ‘Jumanji’ who placed second.

Smyth was among 38 combinations on his start list, eight of whom made it into the jump-off. Only four of those jumped clear, with Smyth and Mulvin Lights Out keeping all the poles intact and stopping the clock in 35.75 seconds to take the lead.

French rider, Marie Demonte and ‘Flashing de Riverland’ were last to go and they managed to shave 0.88 seconds off Smyth’s time, finishing in 34.87 to take the win. Jack Ryan on Carramba L Z were seventh in the class.

Last week’s show commenced on Thursday, February 29th and the day’s 1.40m class saw Jack Ryan on Sympathie 60 place fourth, followed by Rhys Williams on Semeli in sixth and Jonathan Smyth on Mulvin Lights Out in eighth from a large class of 84. Meanwhile, Joanne Blair on MCS Leisester came 10th in the 1.30m class, out of 65 starters.

The 44-starter Six-year-old 1.20m class saw multiple joint winners, including Ireland’s Jonathan Smyth on MHB Magnum Splendor and Coco Douglas; Joanne Blair on Ardkyle Reilly and MCG Emerald; Coen Williams on Okidoki D’Aubry and Suntouchable Van ‘T Kouterhof. The day concluded with a fourth place for Brian Cassidy on Party Popper in the 1.20m class.

Friday was a busy day, with both horse and pony classes being held at the venue. Coen Williams secured a third place with Dominante Z in the Seven-year-old 1.30m class, while the 1.10m class saw a win for Ireland’s Caroline Gaston on Miss Roman Kora, with Jack Doyle placing ninth on Massive Star.

Smyth rode Mr Kannan Ball into fourth place in the 1.35m class, while Ryan on Sympathie 60 placed 10th in the Catunambu Trophy 1.45m class.

Saturday started well for Williams on Suntouchable Van ‘T Kouterhof, when they took 10th place in the Six-year-old 1.20m class, while Taylor Peare on Billy Atlantic were runners up in the 1.35m class. Sean Monaghan rode L-Piccola into the runner-up spot in the 1.45m class, where they were beaten by just 0.05 seconds! On Sunday, Ruth Shanahan rode Petite van D’Hemelse Breedte into 10th place in the 1.30m class, followed by Niamh McEvoy on Jargon DN just outside the top 10 in 11th.